June 2025 • Newsletter from the Centre for Nanoscience, Lund University Strategic Research Area NanoLund |
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We’ve had a year with many exciting achievements across NanoLund. Fortunate to work in areas which have extreme attention worldwide as they are central in solving the many challenges facing our society, we collaborate and compete internationally with an ever-growing number of very well-funded centres and groups, so every time we make a mark it is a cause of celebration – like scoring a goal in the biggest leagues. To stay at the front, we must keep building a great place to do nanoscience.
When Lund University was founded in 1666, it didn’t have any premises, but in 1688, we got the King’s house in the middle of town. Since then, we have naturally grown out from Lund centre into the fields around. Looking back, great success and development are achieved when new buildings are constructed to address new opportunities and societal needs in education and research. Well-thought-out designs can drive development, focusing people and infrastructure together, creating new value far beyond their costs.
However, expansion phases of our university have also been points of great concern, discussions, and anxiety, as these large investments only happen maybe once in every generation. Science Village is the latest such expansion for Lund University, and history indeed repeats itself. With a foundation in the world-wide outstanding combination of infrastructures of MAX IV, ESS, and now Nanolab Science Village, we have the opportunity of our generation to bring Lund University forward – an opportunity we should not miss.
A big warm thanks to all staff, students, and partners, inside and outside the University, for your ongoing support, understanding, and contributions. We all work together to make NanoLund a great place to conduct research, educate, and make a difference in society. Now, let us all have a summer full of recovery, rest, and gathering strength for new challenges ahead.
Anders Mikkelsen, Director of NanoLund |
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Read all about our successful year – highlighting our research, grants, awards and publications, paving the way to new frontiers and constantly growing, thanks to the hard work of our scientific community and all those who support us.
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The search is on for 25 researchers from around the world in Lund University’s largest ever international recruitment drive. Two positions in the NanoLund research environment are available within this major investment.
“In an uncertain world where free research and education are under intense pressure, Lund University is making its largest ever investment in international recruitment. The aim is to attract young talent in order to build creative environments for future research and education, while also linking established leading researchers to the University,” says Erik Renström, Vice-Chancellor of Lund University.
More about the recruitments |
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Mistra – the Swedish foundation for strategic environmental research – approves 15 applications under the Mistra Environmental Research Leaders call, aiming to create transparent, quality-driven, and secure career paths for early-career academics working in the field of environment and sustainability. One of the positions is soon to be announced: an Assistant Professor in Physics with Specialization in Sustainable Semiconductors. Keep posted!
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MAX IV is awarded 200 million SEK from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and WISE to construct and establish a 3D imaging X-ray technology aimed at studying and developing advanced materials for the transition to a sustainable society.
WISE beamline TomoWISE |
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We welcome Maria Abrahamsson, Professor of Physical Chemistry at Chalmers, and Tobias Krantz, Associate Partner at Diplomat Communication and a former Minister for Education, as new members of the NanoLund Advisory Board.
We also welcome PhD students Patrik Nilsson and Emelie Zhu as regular student representatives, and PhD student Julia Valderas Gutiérrez as a supplementary representative of the NanoLund Board, effective July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. |
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Enhancing cancer treatment by improving how therapeutic nanoparticles enter and act within cells is a promising direction. Christelle Prinz and her team have shown that photothermal therapy is more effective when the nanoparticles target the endoplasmic reticulum, which is achieved by performing nanostraw injections.
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Superconductors are materials that can conduct electricity without resistance and are used in electromagnets, antennas and power lines. Researchers have now studied a multifaceted superconductor that exhibits a so-called vortex lattice when exposed to a magnetic field. The discovery could revolutionise technological development.
Contributions to superconducting state |
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Can AI be both smart and sustainable?
New research explores energy-efficient AI using ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) – a brain-inspired hardware that processes data directly in memory. Tested on real-world tasks like image recognition and language processing, FTJs show promise in matching digital performance while using less energy. A step toward greener AI systems!
“We see both intrinsic benefits and drawbacks with the FTJ technology, as well as preferential performance gains towards fully connected models (BERT) over convolutional models (Yolo)”, they state.
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